Sonic Legacy Part 1: Countdown to Chaos
by DarkEnerjak7
Summary: It has been one year since the final defeat of Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and Mobius has been celebrating an era of peace ever since. However, an unknown menace attacks and threatens this peace. It's up to Sonic and his friends to defeat this threat.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

Multiverse - a theorectical reality that includes a possibly infinite number of parallel universes.

In Another Time and Another Place….

In a far away universe, there is a planet much like the one where the Sonic we all know lives. Planet Mobius is very similar to Earth in both appearance and functionality. It is truly a wonderful and very beautiful place to be. At this very moment, Mobius is celebrating a new era. Operation: Final Takedown was an absolute success.

The evil Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik threatened the planet with a deadly weapon known as the "Atomic Annihilator" which was capable of vaporizing atoms. The mad scientist wished to use it to eliminate the leaders of Mobius, so he could stage a hostile takeover and take control of the world.

In an attempt to stop the Eggman, Operation: Final Takedown was initiated. The military forces and Mobius's three champions formed an incredible alliance. The Champions were composed of a blue hedgehog known for his speed, an orange fox hailed for his genius, and a red echidna treasured for his strength. Using their teamwork, the military was able to stall Dr. Eggman's forces long enough for the three champions to infiltrate the Egg Carrier. Despite their many setbacks, the three heroes succeeded in completely destroying the Atomic Annihilator. The heroes escaped just as the Egg Carrier exploded, and the evil doctor was thought to be killed in the explosion.

Dr. Eggman was defeated for a final time. With his death, the world was finally safe from total domination. The Humans and Mobians are now living in peace. But as usual, this peaceful period is about to come to an abrupt end. As it is a known fact that mad scientists are extremely hard to get rid of.

Seeds of destruction are being sown somewhere on Planet Mobius…..


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: DANGER LOOMING

One Year later….

Emerald Hill Zone is the most beautiful zone in all of Mobius. This Zone is quite picturesque, dominated by lush, green fields, sparkling lakes, and waterfalls and is home to a friendly and peaceful community. Palm trees are a common sight in Emerald Hill, as are the stone loops that are seen in numerous zones across Mobius. Most of the inhabitants were Mobians, anthropomorphic animals. Even some of the non-Mobians have heard stories about the Emerald Hill Zone's beauty was spurred with wild tales that the fields were paved with real emeralds. While this is not the case, the mystical Chaos Emeralds were once discovered in the river in this zone, which is probably how it got its name.

Suddenly, a blue blur speeds through the green fields. This unknown figure jumped from tree to tree as it travels at high speed, with the wind chasing him. It was a magnificent sight, leaving the residents of this Hill Zone in awe. The mysterious blur stopped at the foot of the hill. The force of the wind dissipated, revealing a blue hedgehog. His green eyes glimmered in the sunlight. He wore white gloves, and his shoes were a fiery red with one white stripe running across them. Each shoe was fashioned with gold buckle. This Hedgehog was named, "_The Hero of Mobius" _before of his constant victories over Dr. Eggman and his Eggman Empire for the last time. He was gifted with the powers of super speed from birth, and he was named to match. His name is _Sonic the Hedgehog_.

"Hmm, where is he?" Sonic wondered, "He couldn't have gotten very far". Sonic looked up into the bright blue sky. As he was searching, a swift shadow darted over the hill. "Found him!" Sonic speeds up the hill and with great momentum, he leaped into the sky. Sonic closed in on the flying shadow, finally grabbing his feet. "Heheh, I've got you Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. The figure then proceeded to move away from the sun's bright light. "Aww man, you caught me Sonic". _Miles "Tails" Prower_ was Sonic's best friend. He is an orange/yellow fox with ocean blue eyes. His most notable and unique feature was that he was born with two tails. These two tails allows him to sustain flight for long periods of time. Tails is a very friendly and humble fox. He looks up to Sonic as a "big brother", and though he lacks confidence, he is always quite capable around Sonic and often helped him out. He is very intelligent and has outsmarted the likes of Eggman on numerous occasions. "Gotta try harder, Tails" Sonic said as they descended to the green grasses. Tails denied this.

"I'm getting better Sonic"

"Oh you have, have you?"

"It took you longer to catch me this time."

"Nah, I just went easy on you"

"Oh Sonic, how will I get faster if you do try your absolute best?"

"Heh, I dunno"

As the two heroes dropped to the ground, an uneasy feeling flooded Tails. Sonic looked at him with confusion. "Hey Tails, what's up?" The two tailed fox shivered. "I..I don't know. I just feel like something terrible is going to happen.

Without warning the brilliant blue skies blackened, and the shining sun that gazed down at the planet vanished within the clouds. "S-Sonic, the sky…!" The clouds began to cry tears of rain upon the Emerald Hills. "Wait, it was sunny just a second ago!" A massive vessel appeared from within the storm clouds. The massive ship released hordes of robots, which descend down to the Emerald Hill Zone. As the heroes continued to look on, a violent explosion erupted in the distance. Tails panicked, "Sonic! The villagers….!" The speedy hero agreed before Tails could finish. "I know, let's hurry" Sonic and Tails rushed down to the village, only to find everything in ruins. The once beautiful Emerald Hills was now burned down to ashes. The houses and the green grasses that littered the fields were completely destroyed. Sonic sped through the ruins searching for any survivors. "N...NO! Were we too late to save the village?" Sonic frantically searched, hoping to find any clues. Tails flew over to Sonic's location. He was completely out of breath. "Sonic! It's ok! The villagers evacuated out the fiery destruction through the secret passage, and I calculated that they should be out of the zone in about 10 minutes!" Sonic fell to his knees, relieved that no one got hurt. "Good, they got away, I'm glad". Sonic got up and was about to help with the evacuation, but Tails stopped him.

"What is it, Tails?"

"But Sonic…the Chaos Emerald was stolen!"

The **Chaos Emeralds **are seven ancient relics of great power. They have mystical properties and abilities. The holder of the gems can use them for a large variety of things, such as creating a powerful super transformation, powering machines, and warping time and space. The emeralds are known to be able to "transform thoughts into power". If all seven are brought together, they are rumored to perform miracles.

"WHAT?! The emerald was stolen?" Sonic was shocked. "But, who would take it?"

Scarlet boots trampled across the burning fields. Pink hair flowed in the wind that reeked of ashes. Red dress ripped in the back. Tears were seeping from her turquoise eyes. She was running for her life. There were too many robots for her to take on by herself. She needed help, she needed **his **help. "_There_ _is no way I can do this by myself; I was never good at being a distraction_" She thought to herself. Robots were pursuing her relentlessly. She continued to run, but she suddenly stopped right in her tracks; the expression on her face was disbelief. "_What am I thinking? Why am I running?" _She wiped the tears from her eyes. "_I'm supposed to be tough, not crying and running away!"_ She summoned her Piko Piko Hammer and turned around. "After all, how can I expect Sonic to fall in love with me, if I can't even take care of a bunch of silly robots like you?" With a smirk across her face and a hammer in hand, **Amy Rose **went off to war.

Amy wasn't an idiot, she knew she needed a strategy to defeat the incoming horde of mechas. Before she could produce a solid plan, the automatons unleashed a barrage of small missiles. The attack was fast, but Amy was faster. Using her enhanced speed, she swiftly avoided the missile. "I may not be as fast as Sonic, but I'll do in a pinch" Amy said as she jumped onto a nearby rock formation. "Eat this! ROSE TYPROON!" Amy quickly spun her whole body around 360degrees and slammed her hammer down on the surface of the rock. The ground shook upon impact, releasing a powerful pink whirlwind. The whirlwind proceeded to pull the next wave missiles heading for Amy into it. The missiles collided with each other, resulting in a devastating explosion.

"I wonder what caused all this mass destruction."

"I think I might have someone in mind…"

"Uhh, what is it Sonic?"

"It's nothing." The hedgehog stopped suddenly. "Hey, do you know where Amy might be at?"

"She told me she was going to distract the robots so the villagers could escape through the secret path!"

He rushed off without giving Tails a response. Sonic moved at such unimaginable speeds, he created a **Sonic** **Boom, temporarily breaking the sound barrier. **"_What is that girl thinking? There is no way Amy can fight all those robots on her own. She's going to get herself HURT!" _The blue hedgehog zoomed across the zone until he arrived at Amy's location. Expecting to see countless robots swarming a helpless Amy, Sonic saw several piles smashed up robot remains. The cause of this anomaly was none other than Amy Rose. She completely dominated the robotic horde. Amy looked up to see a dumbfounded Sonic staring at her. "Oh Sonic, nice of you to show up" Amy casually said. Sonic whistled with impression. "Wow Amy, not bad, but I think you overdid it a little, heh" Sonic joked as he scratched his forehead. She brushed all the dirt and gunk off her face and dress. "That's just from the power of pure love that was flowing through me!" Amy gleefully stated. "Right, LOVE, that's what it was." Sonic said sarcastically. _AmyRose_is a pink, female hedgehog, who has always chased Sonic in love and has been trying to win his heart by any means. She has firmly established that she is Sonic's self proclaimed girlfriend. Although she claims to be Sonic's girlfriend, it is unknown to anyone if Sonic actually thinks of Amy as such. "SONIC!" Sonic and Amy turned their heads to see Tails flying down to them. Sonic just now remembered he left behind abruptly. "Yo Tails, I'm sorry about leaving you behind buddy. I could have sworn you were right behind me." Tails rushed to Sonic and Amy. "Never mind that, I was spying on a group of those robots, and one of them said that their master, who I assume orchestrated this attack, now has five Chaos Emeralds!" The hedgehogs were shocked, but then Sonic just smiled. "Well, all that means is that we'll have to find the last two." Sonic was full of confidence. "But, where would those emeralds be, Sonic?" Amy inquired. "I know one is on the floating Angel Island" Tails replied. "And I also know the United Federation has one too." Sonic walked toward the edge of the hill they were standing on. "After we've checked on everyone to see if there safe, we'll just go to Angel Island to visit a certain knucklehead." Sonic explained. "We can fly there using my Bi-Plane, the Tornado". With a plan in mind, the trio headed off to Angel Island.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: THE WILD ECHIDNA

Angel Island**, **formerly known as the Floating Island, is an island floating high in the air. The island is the home of the Master Emerald, which keeps the island suspended in the sky. The Master Emerald controls and restricts the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. The Emerald is protected by Knuckles the Echidna, an inhabitant of the Island, and only surviving member of an old society that once lived on the island. After traveling the sky for an hour and a half, Sonic and the others finally reached Angel Island. "Angel Island, what a peaceful place." Sonic grew serious. "I just hope this place doesn't get destroyed like the Emerald Hills…"

The heroes trekked through the jungle en route to the Altar of the Emeralds. The altar is where the Master Emerald is stationed. "Are we there yet, Sonic?" Amy was growing restless from the constant walking. "Come on, this is nothing!" Sonic looked back and saw how tired Amy was. Sonic walked back to her, and grabbed her hand. "S-Sonic! W-what are y-!" Sonic took Amy off her feet and began carrying her. "Now you won't have to complain anymore!" Sonic smiled and Amy blushed, unable to contain her emotions. Annoyed, Tails continued to lead the team to the location of the emerald. "Yeah whatever, anyway guys, we're pretty much at the altar" The Altar of the Emeralds was a tall, pyramid like shine. It was surrounded by seven ancient pillars, marked with old hieroglyphics. Atop the shrine was the Master Emerald, fitted on like a king's crown. Above the emerald was a roof like structure, reminiscent of an ancient temple. Tails' face brightened with excitement. "Look, a Chaos Emerald!" Sitting on the Master Emerald was a red Chaos Emerald. Sonic dashed up the steps of the altar, but noticed something. He heard someone singing a tune…

_"Something's callin' me; I don't know what"  
"Something's talkin' but I don't know who"  
"Something's callin' me more and more"  
"No one stops Knuckles' feet!"  
"Who's the new "porcupine" on the block with the buff chest? Outta the wilderness with the ruggedness? KNOCK KNOCK! It's Knuckles!"_

A shadow loomed over the altar. The dark figure dived down in a spiral as if it was a drill. The mysterious being smashed into the step in front of Sonic and the impact caused him to lose his balance. The dust settled around the shrine, revealing a red echidna. His spines were styled into dreadlocks that flowed to his shoulders. The color of his eyes was purple tinted with ocean blue. On his chest was a white, crescent moon shaped birthmark. He wears white mitt-like gloves and has two spiked knuckle-claws on each hand. He wears green, yellow and red footwear with a metal "lego" plate atop each shoe. Sonic got on his feet, dusting off the rumble. "Well, if he looks like a dimwit, talks like a dimwit, and smells like a dimwit, he must be Knuckles!" It was fast, but Sonic saw through his movements. The echidna jumped forward, launching a high-speed double punch. Swift and agile, Sonic effortlessly dodged the echidna's attack. Sonic, seeing his opponent was wide open, takes the opportunity to attempt a Spin Dash attack. He rolled up into a ball and started spinning at high speed. Sonic threw himself at the red echidna. Putting his foot forward, the echidna leaned back letting Sonic's spinning attack to pass by.

"You know, **Knuckles**, you always have to ruin my day, don't you?"

"Hey Sonic, did I ever tell you that blue was my least favorite color!"

"Hi, Knuckles"

"Tails and Amy! Glad to see you! What's up guys?"

"You…..greet them with kind words, but greet me with a punch? Some friend you are!"

Sonic and Knuckles began arguing more and more. "Why are you even here Sonic? Screwed something up again?" Knuckles, taunting Sonic, charged his Maximum Heat Knuckles Attack. "Me? Screw something up?" Sonic created a mini whirlwind and hurled it at the angry echidna. "The only thing that was screwed up around here was your stupid theme song!" Both of their attacks collided, resulting in a small explosion. Sonic and Knuckles were both pushed back. Knuckles was the first to recover. "Now …" He raised his arm and pointed his fist in Sonic's direction. "Get off MY Island!" Sonic brushed the dirt off himself and began walking towards the echidna. "Hahaha, Whoo!" The blue hedgehog rushed at Knuckles with twice the speed of before. "Come Knuckles! We're had better fights than this!" The echidna stood still as Sonic charged at him. Though it was quick, she saw it. Amy **knew** she saw it. _"Knuckles…just smiled?"_

"SONIC WIND!"

"THUNDER ARROW!"

Blades of wind and arrows of lightning scattered across the shrine as Sonic and Knuckles clashed. Sonic jumped above Knuckles and dove at him with a quick drop kick. "_Come on Sonic, you know that never works on me!" _Knuckles jumped up into a spiral and countered the kick. _"But, you're right about one thing…Sonic. We have had tougher fights than this!"_ Knuckles' punch knocked Sonic away. The blue hedgehog jumped to his feet and began to charge another Spin Dash. "Let's do this Knucklehead!" The wild echidna prepared himself. His fists were engulfed in a fire-like aura. "Alright Sonic, I'll show you what **Guardian of the Emeralds** can do! MAXIMUM HEAT KNUCKLES ATTACK!" Before either one of them could release their finishing move, Tails intervened their battle. "Let's get serious, guys! We have a huge problem to deal with, and the lives of many may be at stake! Stop your useless fighting NOW!" A few seconds passed before Sonic and Knuckles cancelled their attacks. The guardian completely ignored the existence Sonic the Hedgehog as he passed by him. "Well, I guess if Tails and Amy are here as well, it must be somewhat important" Trapping the air under his dreadlock, Knuckles glided down to the fox and hedgehog.

Tails took the opportunity to explain the recent events. "So Emerald Hill was attacked by an unknown assailant, huh?" Knuckles began walking up the stairs of the altar as Sonic rejoined the others. "You don't look very surprised, Knux." Knuckles paused for a moment before speaking "I'm not really sure about this but, earlier today the Master Emerald presented me with an image of an air ship lurking in the clouds" Sonic crossed his arms and looked up at echidna. "So? No offense Knuckles, but that's not exactly helpful!" Knuckles took a moment before continuing. "I know that, but the thing is… and it had an Eggman insignia on it…." Shock blanketed everyone. "No way! He died in our last battle, there's no way he could still be alive!" the blue hedgehog shouted.

"**Are you sure about that, you HORRID little hedgehog?!"**

There was complete silence. Sonic didn't move. He **couldn't **move. It was because he knew whose voice that belonged to. It was a voice he would never forget, one he **wanted** to forget. "What's wrong Sonic, an Egg Pawn caught your tongue, Heheh?" The mysterious voice boomed across the altar. "Hey look Tails, it's a giant talking egg." Sonic said as turned to face a man in a hovering pod. This man was obese, but somewhat burlier and flabby with long, almost disproportionately thin arms. His head sat both tinted glasses and goggles. The obese man had a moustache that was great in density and mass. He wore an elegant, red coat sporting two square metal buttons on both sides of the chest in gold with white stripes and yellow cuffs on the sleeves as well as white gloves covering his hands. The man was fitted with a pair of black pants with matching boots seemingly attached to them bearing circular plates on the both sides of the ankles and three square ones riding up the shin. He was seated in a "throne" known as the _Egg Mobile_. It was **Dr. Eggman**.

"How are you even alive Egghead?"

"I'm a genius, I **always **have a way out!"

"Is that so? Did you come back for another beat down?"

"I came here to exterminate you and take your Chaos Emerald, Rodent!"

"For a genius, you're not very smart. I'm a HEDGEHOG"

"SHUT UP, you spiky little pincushion!"

Knuckles intervened. He jumped straight up to the top of the altar and blocked Dr. Eggman's path to the Master Emerald. "I would die before I'd let you take the Master Emerald, Eggman." The Egg Mobile turned to face the rigid echidna. "Oh, that can be arranged, you idiotic echidna! The obese man coldly snapped his fingers. "E-1001 Egg Pawns, ATTACK!" The clouds abruptly opened up, revealing Dr. Eggman's Flag Ship. Hundreds of Egg Pawns fell from the sky. Many of them landed on the Altar of the Emeralds, surrounding Sonic and the others. The madman laughed hysterically. "Now that I have the emeralds in my grasp, can you all kindly just die?"

"It's CRUNCH TIME!" the wild echidna howled as he tore through the Egg Pawns with his Spiral Attack. One robot attempted to ambush Knuckles from behind only for its head to be severed off by Knuckles' fist. Tails took flight and began to his battle with the flying Egg Flappers. "This'll be easy! Prepare to lose!" Spurned by her desire to impress Sonic, Amy summoned her Piko Piko Hammer out of nowhere, and she started smashing robots left and right. "If Sonic is fighting, I have to help him!" Another wave of robots spewed from the Flag Ship, adding to the numerous amounts Sonic was already fighting. Still oozing confidence, Sonic merely conjured up a Blue Tornado to blow the horde away. "Heh, this is too easy!" Sonic then charged at a group of Egg Pawns with a Sonic Boost, splitting them all in half. Armed with lances and shields, many of the Egg Pawns attempted to defend themselves from the hedgehog. However, Sonic knew from prior experience that he needed to do was get rid of the shields and they were finished. Sonic leaped directly into a Spin Dash and performed a Homing Attack.

Fighting in midair, Tails destroyed countless Egg Flappers with his Tails Swipe attacks. Using more complicated air maneuvers, Tails successfully eliminated the entire fleet of Egg Flappers. "Hmm, these robots seem to be a lot tougher than before…" Two Egg Flappers suddenly appeared on both sides of him, preparing their Egg Lasers. As they fired their energy lasers, Tails flew up above them allowing the Flappers' attacks to cancel each other out. Tails began to gather energy in his tails, giving them a golden appearance. "Super Tails Swipe!" The flying fox slashed his tails in the Egg Flappers' direction, releasing a golden crescent shaped blast. An explosion erupted in the sky.

As remains of the robots fell down the altars' base with the rest of the wreckage, Knuckles looked up at the explosion. "Heh, it looks like Tails has gotten a lot better at fighting over the past year". Two Egg Pawns charged Knuckles on both sides of him. The tough echidna grabbed both of their lances. "You guys really don't know what you're up against, do you?" Noticing another horde of robots heading his way, Knuckles lifted the two mechas and hurled them in their direction. Taking advantage of the distraction, Knuckles jumped up directly above the robots and raised his arms up. "Thunder Arrow!" The echidna's fists started glow golden. Just as he brought his arms down in front of him, lightning bolts shot from them effectively vaporizing the Egg Pawn horde.

Dr. Eggman was growing more and more frustrated with the failure of his robots. Sonic casually walked up to the Eggman. "Come on Eggy, even a "genius" like you, knows that you're completely outclassed!" Sonic and the others weren't even trying, yet they were dominating Dr. Eggman's Badnik horde. "Give up Egghead, you've already lost this fight".

A calm air surrounded the Doctor. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, you rodent" Sonic looked up at Eggman as if he was crazy. "Hmm, how's that? Look around you! We already destroyed half of your Badnik horde. You can't win!"

A menacing smile engulfed Dr. Eggman's face as he pressed a button in his Egg Mobile. "It's because you let all your guards completely down!" A flash of blinding white light was emitted, stunning everyone in the vicinity. A metal claw detached from the mobile and charged for the defenseless Master Emerald. The claw ensnared the massive jewel as well as the Chaos Emerald sitting on top of it. "MWHAHAHA! So long, losers!" Dr. Eggman fled with emeralds in tow. "One more emerald, hedgehog, and I will be able to re-launch my space station, the **Death Egg!**" Sonic ran towards the fleeing doctor, but the blue hero was still disorientated from the white light. "N-No! Get back here Eggman!" But it was too late. The Flag Ship departed from Angel Island, along with all of the remaining Egg Pawns.

The island started to tilt, losing its balance in the sky. Angel Island began its descent. "Oh no, it's starting to happen! Without the Master Emerald's power, Angel Island is falling into the ocean" Knuckles panicked. "We have to get off the island or else we'll sink along with it!" Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy rushed to the Tornado and flew away for Angel Island, which at that point, had plummeted into the ocean.


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: SKY CHASE

The Tornado soared through the skies as the echidna looked back. He was staring at where Angel Island used to be. "I can't believe it, I…I've failed. I don't deserve to be guardian! I couldn't even protect the Master Emerald or Angel Island!" Knuckles exploded. "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO NOW!" Everyone else sat in silence. "Eggman has gotten his hands on SIX Chaos Emeralds while we have NONE!" Knuckles raged on. "Calm down, knucklehead" Sonic stood up on the wing of the Bi-Plane. "We still have a chance to get back the emeralds he stole." Knuckles stood up next to him. "What are you talking about? We have no clue where Eggman is hiding, AND even if we do manage to find his base somehow, he'll probably find the last emerald before we do!" Sonic smiled. "Come on Knuckles, have a little faith". Knuckles raised his fist to the sky. "Have a little faith in what!?" Sonic grabbed the echidna's arm and grinned. "We already know the location of the last Chaos Emerald".

The obese doctor stormed through the ridiculously large control room of his Egg Fleet flag ship. "Alright you idiots, get your acts together! We are on a tight schedule." The control room was filled with badniks standing in several rows. The Badnik horde consisted of classic badniks from Sonic's younger days, massive SWAT Bots, an armored variant of Egg Pawns, sinister SHADOW Bots, and the Egg Swats. "HO HOHOHO!" Eggman laughed. "The lot of you should be very affected against the United Federation's forces when we invade Central City." Eggman turned to face the control room monitor. "They won't even see the attack coming, especially with the Eggman Fleet's new cloaking device!" The Badnik horde all knelt down before the mad scientist and praised his genius until a mysterious voice spoke out.

"**Hmph, do you really believe that you've already won? Ha, we both know Sonic will find some way to kick your ass and ruin your plans." **

The robotic army grew silent immediately. The Eggman glanced over his shoulder to see a mysterious robotic being wearing a long flowing brown cloak that covered the lower portion of its face as well as the rest of its body. Its blood red eyes were fixated on the doctor. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? The rebellious **Forte **speaks up?" The cloaked robot appeared right in front of the fat scientist. "Don't call me that….Robotnik." Dr. Eggman merely smiled at the robot's annoyance. "Aww, still don't like your code name? That's too bad, I actually liked it." Eggman turned back around and faced the monitor. "But to answer your earlier outburst, I always have a backup plan". The dark machine studied the viewing monitor and scoffed at the scientist. "What, that useless robot? Ha, I doubt using a blue can opener that gets itself broken by a weak hedgehog every two seconds will do any good." The sinister scientist smiled. "Silly **Forte**, allow me to inform you of my **master plan**."

"So THAT'S our plan? Sounds risky, I don't like it." Knuckles said. Sonic gave Knuckles a thumbs up. "Of course it will work! Quit being so negative, Knux!" As the hedgehog and echidna continued to argue, Amy leaned forward in her seat to Tails. "Are YOU sure this plan will work? We're kinda short on people here" Amy whispered. Tails was trying to focus on piloting the plane. "This is the best shot we have to prevent Eggman from launching the Death Egg." Amy fell back into her seat. "But, it's just the Death Egg. He's used that thing so many times, and we've always trashed it. I don't understand why Eggman went through so much trouble just for that!" Tails' grip on the steering wheel tightened. "That's what I'm worried about Amy!" Amy was surprised by his statement. "Eggman stole the Master Emerald. In the past, he has always used it to power the Death Egg. The thing that bugs me is why he needs the Chaos Emeralds?" The pink hedgehog was at a loss of words. "A -Are you saying that Eggman is going to use the emeralds for something else?" The fox closed his eyes. "Let's hope not, Amy".

Before Amy could say anything else, Knuckles pointed ahead of them. "Look! There it is!" Everyone followed Knuckles' line of sight to see that off in the distance was the Eggman Fleet. The Egg Fleet was an immense group of flying battleships. This armada was based off various aquatic creatures such as sharks, manta rays, and sawfish. Each ship was filled with guns, cannons, and robot armies. It was obvious that they were capable of laying waste to almost anything standing in their way. Leading the charge was the massive Whale Shark Flag Ship. "There! That's the Flag Ship I saw in the image the Master Emerald showed me!" Knuckles shouted. "That's probably where the fat egg is hiding!" Amy was in dismay. "I think we might be in over our heads here, guys!" Sonic grinned like he usually does. "Come on, this is nothing! We beat the Egg Fleet before, we'll do it again!"

The Tornado began to close in on the massive armada. "Alright guys, we have 45 minutes until we arrive at Central City! We need to stop Eggman before we reach there!" Tails explained. There was a twinge of fear in his voice, but at that moment it didn't matter. "That's plenty of time; I saved the world in 30 seconds before!" Tails couldn't help but chuckle. "Heheh, you're right Sonic. You have." The fear that Tails was experiencing had vanished. He opened a flap in the Tornado's control panel, revealing a red button. "Okay everyone, hold on! We're going in! TORNADO 2, TRANSFORM!" The orange fox shouted as slammed down on the button. The blue-tinted biplane's wings began to morph into an X shape. The change forced Sonic and Knuckles to hold onto the sides of the plane. The Tornado accelerated forward at extreme speeds directly into the domain of the Eggman Fleet.

Meanwhile in the central control room of the Whale Shark Flag Ship, Dr. Eggman and the cloaked robot looked on to the viewing monitor as the ship's alarms went off. "Well Eggman, It seems that we have some guests today." The menacing doctor grinned at the screen. "I guess I'll do the polite thing and give them a proper welcome." Dr. Eggman walked over to his computer and began typing. "Eggman Fleet, activate Formation Zero"


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: EGG FLEET FURY

"WOOHOO! Alright, you guys ready!?"

"Shut up Sonic, it's hard enough to hold on to the plane without you yelling!"

"Lighten up Knuckles, where is your sense of adventure?"

The Tornado, now in its X form, was heading straight into the airspace of the incoming Egg Fleet. Amy narrowed your eyes as she looked ahead. "Hey guys, what are those ships doing?" The airships were starting to move away from each other. Tails began to feel uneasy again. "I have a bad feeling about this". Sonic looked at Tails. "It looks like those ships are trying to shape something, but I don't know what."

The Eggman Fleet drew apart from the Whale Shark Flagship. The armada surrounded the flag ship in a massive circle, all facing the heroes' direction. As the Tornado drew closer, each of the battleships unveiled crimson laser cannons on top of their "heads". Amy glanced over at the enormous flagship and noticed a change in its shaped. "Hey, the whale ship is…changing?" The Whale Shark Flagship's "mouth" began to open up, revealing a cannon three times the size of the other battleships. "Well look at that! Egghead is trying to launch a counter attack. It looks like the good doctor forgot who he's dealing with!" The blue hedgehog climbed up the plane and clung to the top. "Tails, get ready for some evasive action!" The orange fox gave Sonic a thumbs up. "Got it, Sonic!" Electrically spheres of energy began to form in front of each the battleships' laser cannons. The energy spheres were then drawn into the Whale Sharks' cannon and began forming a massive energy ball that completely dwarfed the Tornado in size.

Back in the control room of the flagship, Dr. Robotnik sinisterly grins at the computer screen. "Formation Zero….is a new function I programmed into the Eggman Fleet" The cloaked robot turns to the monitor. "New function? What are you talking about?" The Eggman pointed at the viewing monitor. "Formation Zero forces the other battleships to surround the Whale Shark Flag Ship, and they feed their chaos energy supply into the flagship's central cannon." Eggman walked over to the cloaked being. "The central cannon will then unleash a highly powered energy beam that is capable of removing the existence of any atoms caught in the blast!" The menacing doctor laughed. "HOHOHO! This technology is derived from the design of my brilliant Atomic Annihilator machine!" The mysterious robot let out a laugh. "Technology derived from a failure of a machine? That's pathetic! Why must you continue to use concepts that have previously failed?" He continued to mock Dr. Eggman. "And what makes it worse is that even the concepts you revise keeps failing against that weakling of a hedgehog!" Dr. Eggman brushed the dark robot off. "Forte, you know nothing about pure genius! That fact that I'm still alive proves that my plans have worked. If you think that my methods are incorrect, then I'll let you take a crack at the miserable rodent!" The robotic being jumped into the air and stretched his hand at the doctor. "My name is **Bass**, Robotnik! And I accepted your challenge! I vow I will defeat **Sonic the Hedgehog!**"

The Whale Shark Flag charged its Atomic Annihilator Cannon until the energy sphere eclipsed the flagship. The Tornado was blocked from seeing Eggman's main ship. "Tails, on my command, I want you to drive hard to the left." Tails looked up at and then looked back at the Egg Fleet. He nodded "Okay Sonic, I will." Tails yelled back to everyone. "Everyone, brace yourselves!" The flagship unleashed its Atomic Annihilator Cannon, launching a massive energy beam toward the heroes. "Tails! NOOWW!" Sonic shouted. The blue plane swirled to the left just as the energy wave passed by. The Tornado barely missed total obliteration. The enormous blast shot into the distance, smashing into the ocean below. An explosion erupted from the impact, leaving an island sized crater behind. Sonic watched the explosion behind him settle. "Whoa, that was cutting it close!" Knuckles let out a huge sigh. "Too close for my taste". The Eggman Fleet's formation began to break apart. "Remember that plan guys because now we're going on the attack!"

"GRRAGH! THEY AVOIDED THE BLAST!?" Dr. Eggman slammed his fists down on the control panel in front of the monitor. "It's going to take too much time for the Egg Fleet to charge another Atomic Annihilator attack!" Eggman ran over to his computer and started typing again. "GAH, I have no choice but to initiate the Eggman Fleet defense system!" The scientist turned to look at the robotic army waiting in the control room. "BADNIK HORDE! MAKE YOURSELVES USEFUL AND ELIMINATE ANY INTRUDERS THAT GET IN THIS SHIP!" He began walking toward the crowd. "Though I hope the battleships will be able to blast those fools out of the sky!" The robots bowed before the Eggman. "AFFIRMATIVE! HAIL DR. ROBOTNIK!" The army charged out the control room doors, all praising Dr. Eggman as they left. The only one robot that remained in the room was the cloaked Bass. Dr. Eggman noticed he was still floating in the air. "If you plan on beating Sonic, it would probably be smart for you to leave now!" Bass chuckled at his words. "Oh I will. I will grind that hedgehog and his friends into nothing." He turned his back to the Doctor. He was now facing the entrance. "I'll prove I'm the strongest..." Bass vanished from the control room as he teleported away.

The Egg Fleet began its assault on the heroes, launching a wave of missiles and bombs. The Tornado, still heading for the Flagship, dodged the fleet's first attack and countered the second wave with its own missiles. The plane speed increased, boosting it passed the next wave of missiles. When the Tornado flew just above Whale Shark Flag Ship, it reverted back to its bi-plane form. Sonic and Knuckles jumped on to the wing of the plane. "Alright you two, we'll be back in a flash!" The heroic hedgehog gave Amy and Tails a thumbs up. "Just don't get yourselves blown up!" Knuckles looked at Sonic. "Ready….Sonic?" Sonic turned to him. "Yeah! Let's do some damage!" Sonic and Knuckles leaped off the Tornado, and they dived down to the flag ship.


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE: INFILTRATION

Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna descended to the Whale Shark Flag Ship. As they were falling, Sonic turn his head to Knuckles. "Hey Knux, would you do the honors?" Knuckles smirked. "Hehe, I thought you would never ask!" The red echidna began to spiral rapidly, putting his fist forward in the process. Knuckles' fist was engulfed in a reddish glow. Flames emerged from it and trailed its way aroud the rest of his body. "Drill CLAW!" Knuckles collided with the surface of the flag ship. Upon impact, the metal surface split apart, forming a small opening in the battleship. Knuckles struck the ground as he landed inside the hallway. As he stood up, Sonic landed right beside him. "Heheh, what do you know! Hedgehogs DO land on their feet!" Knuckles rolled his eyes. "No time for messing around, Sonic! We have to find the Chaos Emeralds before the Egg Fleet reaches Central City!" Sonic started to walk in opposite direction Knuckles was facing. "Hey, we got plenty of time! Tails and Amy are the ones who are going to shutdown the flag ship's control over the rest of the fleet." Sonic looked back at Knuckles as he pointed his thumb behind him. "Plus, we got company…" Dead ahead of Sonic was a group of ShadowBots and Egg Pawns who were armed with laser guns and lances respectively. Knuckles joined Sonic in facing the metallic army. "Well Sonic, I GUESS we can have a little fun…" The spiky heroes looked at each other and smirked. "Alright Knucklehead, let's get this party started!"

"Are you ABSOLUTELY sure this is going to work, Tails?" Amy said as she fixed the headband in her hair. The two tailed fox continued to pilot the Tornado bi-plane. "I'm sure Amy. If we can get close enough to the flag ship's control room, I might able to activate a miniature electromagnetic pulse strong enough to knock out its command over the other ships!" Amy looked down at the Whale Shark Flag Ship. "I hope it does work. I'm worried about Sonic…" Tails turned to look back at the worrying hedgehog. "Don't worry! I know Sonic and Knuckles are going to get out just fine!"

An explosion erupted at the end of the hallway. Smokes and fumes filled corridor as Sonic sped through. Egg Pawns attempted to impale the blue hedgehog as he passed, but Sonic's speed proved too much for them to handle. As he ran by, Sonic initiated the Sonic Boost technique. Blue light engulfed the speedy hedgehog. Sonic proceeded to smash through the robots with extreme power and speed. The blue hedgehog suddenly came to a screeching halt. Sonic turned just in time to avoid an incoming attack from a group of six Egg Pawns. The mechas swung their lances at Sonic simultaneously only for the hedgehog to jump above them. Sonic landed on top of an Egg Pawn's head and shook his finger at the rest of the pawns. "Didn't you mother ever tell you not to run around with dangerous spears?" One of the Egg Pawns tried to stab Sonic from behind, but he performed a back flip and landed beside it. "HEY! Watch where you're waving that thing!" Sonic curled up into a ball and began to spin rapidly. White energy surrounded the hedgehog. "Sonic Wave!" He was thrown back into the air as he launched a white wave of energy. The energy wave swallowed up the six Egg Pawns as the blast swooped through the hallway. The blast collided with the door at the end of the path, destroying the robots. A gaping hole was left in the door. "Well that's that. I even opened the door for us." Sonic paused for a second before turning around. He shouted down the corridor. "KNUCKLES! COME ON, I OPENED THE DOOR!"

Suddenly, a swarm of Shadowbots came flying down the hall, heading directly for Sonic. Sonic took his battle stance, but he soon realized that the robots weren't attacking him. The blue hero leaped up against the wall, letting the Shadowbots fly through the hole in the door. Sonic watched as the entrance blew apart from a powerful explosion. "What the-?" Before Sonic could finish his sentence, a Shadowbot emerged from the wreckage. The robot was clearly damaged as it was missing its left arm and a part of his right leg. "MUSSssT TttERMINnnATE HEDGEHOG!" It lifted its right arm which had a laser gun mounted on it. The Shadowbot prepared its laser gun to fire. However, Knuckles appeared on the wall parallel to Sonic. "Stay. Down. You trash can!" The echidna jumped off the wall and moved directly toward the damaged machine. "Deep Impact…" Knuckles performed a right hook, and punched the robot in the chest. When his punch connected, an incredible explosion blasted through the Shadowbot. The robot was incinerated by the blast. Sonic clapped his hands as he walked up to Knuckles. "WOW, what kind of move was that? Never seen you use that one before!" Knuckles let out a chuckle. "The Deep Impact is a special technique I invented. When I store my fist up with an extensive amount of energy, it obtains the ability to split Hydrogen atoms in the air." Knuckles put his arm out in the direction of the where the door used to be. "As you can see, the results are rather explosive."

The two heroes walked up to the entrance of the room at the end of the hallway. "Knuckles, is this the place?" Knuckles jumped over the wreckage and walked into the room. "Yep, I'm absolutely sure. I can feel the emerald's presence here. Sonic joined Knuckles in the room. "That's good news, though I could have gone a little longer trashing some more of Eggy's badniks." Something in the room caught Sonic's eye. He looked up to see a large container on the ceiling. Inside of the container were six shining gems, each of them different colors. It was the Chaos Emeralds. The only color absent was the green gem. "Look Knux! It's the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic dashed across the room. Knuckles stayed behind. "This room contains the Chaos Emeralds? You'd think Eggman would put some more defenses inside the room." Knuckles looked around the room. "And where is the Master Emerald!?" Sonic leaped up into the air. He was intent on getting the powerful jewels back and getting out of flag ship. Sonic reached out for the emeralds.

Suddenly, a shadow flew past Knuckles. A shockwave was emitted from the shadow, pushing Knuckles to the side. The being then intercepted Sonic before he could collect the Chaos Emeralds. It grabbed Sonic by the throat and then proceeded to slam him against the floor. The force of the impact created a small crater. Knuckles recovered first. After the dust settled, he could get a clear view of the attacker. "Gah, who are you!?" He could tell that the being was a robot even though he was covered in a light brown clock. Atop his head were fin like extensions with a purple star shaped gem sitting on his forehead. His blood red eyes locked on the wild echidna. He kicked Sonic into the air.

"Sonic!"

Knuckles jumped up and caught the blue hedgehog before he hit the ground. The cloaked robot continued to stare at Knuckles before he spoke:

"My name is **Bass**, and I came here to kill you."


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: BASS

"You came here to kill me?"

Knuckles helped Sonic get up onto his feet. "Well, you aren't the first one to say that." Bass laughed lightly. "Actually, I came here to defeat Sonic the Hedgehog, but I thought why not kill two birds with one stone and snuff out an echidna too." Knuckles crossed his arms. "Snuff out an echidna? Look buddy, let's not get carried away…" He started walking toward Bass. "You're dealing with two of Mobius' champions. You don't stand a chance given that you're just an Eggman robo-"

Knuckles didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Bass appear directly in front of him. Bass grabbed a hold of one of the echidna's dreadlocks. Before Knuckles could react, the menacing robot pulled him forward and proceeded to knee him in the face. Knuckles was hurled out of the room and smashed into the wall at the end of the hallway. Knuckles was stunned by the surprise attack, and he collapsed onto the floor. Bass appeared at the Emerald Containment room's entrance. "I'm **not** an Eggman robot" A yellow ball of energy began to form in the palm of his hand. Bass pointed his attack in Knuckles' direction. "Now die, you worthless echidna."

A blue streak rushed passed Bass as he fired his energy blast. Sonic, now fully recovered, intercepted Bass' attack. A glowing ring appeared in the blue hedgehog's hand. Sonic threw the golden ring at the incoming blast. Sonic then charged a Spin Dash attack and launch himself at the ring. It was quick, but the results were devastating. Sonic severed the energy blast in half, causing the energy to scatter and explode. Sonic continued to Spin Dash until he rammed into Bass' chest. The cloaked Bass endured Sonic's attack. He grabbed the spinning hedgehog and tossed him at wreckage where Knuckles lied. Almost immediately after throwing Sonic, Bass charged up another energy blast and succeeded in launching it at the heroes. Sonic crashed into the wall. Sonic dropped to the ground, landing on his hands and knees. When he looked up, he saw the energy wave closing in on him and Knuckles.

"STONE FIST!"

A gigantic hand made of stone blocked the energy blast. The hand closed into a fist and charged into the menacing Bass, pushing him back into the Emerald Containment room. Bass unleashed a black shockwave that shattered the fist of stone. Pieces of rock scattered across the battlefield. Sonic looked up behind him to see Knuckles standing with fist forward. "It will take more than a knee to the face to take me down!" Sonic stood up next to Knuckles. "Say Knuckles, how about we show Bat Ears here, the Sonic-Knuckles combo!" Knuckles smiled as he reached down and grabbed Sonic's arm. "I…AGREE!" The red echidna spun Sonic around before hurling him at the terrifying Bass. Sonic curled up into a ball in mid air and activated his Spin Dash. Bass scoffed at the heroes' attempts. "Do you really believe that that will be enough to defeat me?" A shining blue aura surrounded Sonic as he homed in on Bass.

"Sonic BOOST!"

The blue hedgehog charged straight toward Bass with a force so powerful, the floor and walls began to rip apart. Bass continued to look on as he started to form another energy attack. His attack was cut short, however, due to rock spikes rising from the ground, restricting his movements. Bass looked over to see Knuckles kneeling with his palm against the floor. With no way to defend himself, Bass was stuck by the Sonic Boost. Knuckles smirked at Bass' predicament. "Looks like that Bass is in trouble." However, Knuckles' smirk quickly faded. Something was wrong. "Why….why hasn't he reacted to Sonic's attack!?" Even though Sonic hit Bass with a powerful Sonic Boost, the robot failed give ground. Knuckles soon realized why that was the case. Bass was radiating the same blue aura as Sonic. Knuckles clinched both of his fists before he shouted. "IS HE'S USING THE SONIC BOOST AS WELL?!"

Bass grinned sinisterly as a bright blue light surrounded Sonic and himself. A pillar of blue energy shot up into the air, piercing the ceiling. The beam of light dissipated with a shockwave. Knuckles dashed into the containment room, but he came to a screeching halt. The red echidna was shocked to see Sonic trapped in the grasp of a gigantic stone fist. Bass was standing beside it. He pointed at Knuckles as he started laughing. "HAHAHAHA! I have to thank you, echidna, for giving me these abilities!" Knuckles walked slowly towards Bass. "You…you copied our techniques?" Bass lowered his arm. "Actually, more absorbed than copied" The stone hand gave a quick squeeze to Sonic. "GAAH!" Bass smirked at Sonic's pain. He then turned his attention back to Knuckles. "Get Ability Program. That is my special ability. It allows me to absorb any technique or power up I have ever seen and use them against my opponents!" Bass continued.

"Because of this power, I can surpass all living beings and become the strongest warrior in the universe!"


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: SONIC AND KNUCKLES VS BASS

Bass continued to laugh eccentrically. The heroes began their fight with Bass and they were already at a disadvantage. Sonic was locked in the tight grasp of Bass's stone fist and Knuckles was cornered by Bass himself. Knuckles needed a way get Bass out of the way so he could free Sonic, but he knew Bass wouldn't be so easy to distract. Knuckles readied himself for battle. "Grrr…This is bad. This guy can steal our abilities and use them against us!" Bass grinned at the red echidna. "Come on! Throw all your moves at me so I can absorb them all!" Knuckles looked passed Bass and smiled. His battle stance relaxed sightly. "Sure, I'll show you my moves, but why don't we check out Sonic's first?" Bass's eyes widened. "What!?"

**"Oh, did you think I was done, Bat Ears?"**

The cloaked Bass turned around to see a blue surge of energy erupting in front of him. The giant Stone Fist was blasted into pieces. It was seconds after that when Bass was hit with a powerful Sonic Boom. Sonic drove Bass straight into the wall before the blue hedgehog jumped back and landed beside Knuckles. The two heroes fist bumped. "Nice one, Sonic, but I could have done it a lot better." Sonic openly laughed. "In your dreams, Knucklehead!" Knuckles grabbed Sonic's arm. "I'm a lot stronger than you Sonic! I could have escaped from the rock fist with my own physical strength! You just gave him a new ability to absorb!" The blue hedgehog merely brushed Knuckles's comments off. "Hah, whatever Knuckles! You're just jealou-" Sonic quickly kicked Knuckles away and performed a backflip in the air. A black streak passed between the two heroes, narrowly missing them both. Knuckles recovered and rejoined Sonic. "See Sonic! Another ability absorbed!" Sonic looked back at Knuckles with slight embarrassment. "Well okay you were right for once, but I still saved us!"

**"HA! You've done nothing but delayed your violently painful deaths!"**

Sonic turned away from Knuckles and charged toward Bass. "The direct approach, huh?" Bass put his hand forward. "I guess you're eager to die!" Golden energy began to gather in his palm. Sonic smiled. "Looks like you're not very bright!" Just before he reached Bass, the heroic hedgehog performed a Quick Step and bypassed Bass completely. Bass was thrown off by Sonic's action and he turned around to see the blue hedgehog standing in place. Bass prepared to launch the energy blast at Sonic, completely unaware that Knuckles was in the air above him. "THUNDER ARROW!" Knuckles brought down his fists and bolts of lightning fired from them. However, a black diamond-shaped shield encased Bass, nullifying the Thunder Arrows. This left Sonic shocked. "That technique…! But the Black Shield belongs to..!" Bass vanished from within the diamond barrier and reappeared above Knuckles. Bass raised his palm to the ceiling and a dark purple energy ball, that was twice his size, formed. "Disappear, echidna trash!" He brought his palm down. "Earth Breaker!" However in a blink of an eye, Sonic appear on the ceiling, directly above the energy bomb and jumped down. He landed a decisive drop kick of the Earth Breaker attack. Bass looked up and saw his own attack falling upon him. "WHAT!?" The giant energy sphere swallowed Bass whole, creating a devastating explosion that propelled Sonic and Knuckles out of the room.

Sonic landed on one knee while Knuckles fell on his face. Sonic shielded his eyes from the rushing smoke that began filling the hallway. After the explosion settled and the smoke dissipated, Sonic began walking towards the room. Knuckles got back on his feet and noticed Sonic walking. "W-wait! What are you doing, Sonic?" Sonic looked back at Knuckles. "We need to get those Chaos Emeralds and get out of here." Knuckles put his hands on the sides of his face. He was still disoriented from the blast and he needed more time to recover. "What about Bass?" Sonic looked back at the room. "I don't think he'll be getting up anytime soon. Besides even if he does come back, we got it covered!" Knuckles joined Sonic and they began walking towards the room once again. "If you say so Sonic…"

Suddenly, bolts of lightning shot from the Emerald Containment Room and homed in on the two champions. Sonic and Knuckles easily avoid the lightning bolts as they collided with the wall at the end of the hall. "Those were my Thunder Arrows. It looks like he's not done yet."

"**YOU GOT THAT RIGHT, ECHIDNA TRASH!"**

Bass appeared in the room's entrance. He had clearly taken a lot of damage as his cloak had several tears and the ends of it were charred. The rest of Bass's body was now visible. His body was black with purple streaks running across the length of his arms and legs. Bass had golden coiled gauntlets around his ankles. Gold spikes stuck out of his shoulders. He also had black gauntlets on his wrists. On his chest was a solid black circle with a white scar embedded diagonally across it. Bass smiled. "I must admit, you guys are tough. I haven't received this much damage since Perfect Chaos." Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Perfect Chaos? What are you talking about?" Knuckles folded his arms before he spoke. "What? You fought Perfect Chaos. But…how and when? He only attained that form twice! Once 4000 years and another time 2 years ago" Knuckles continued. "Tikal sealed him away the first time and Sonic kicked his tail the next!"

Bass was silent for a short moment before charged straight for Knuckles. "The Last of the Knuckles Clan knows nothing of the true happenings of the past!? PATHETIC!" Bass launched several Thunder Arrows from his hands. Sonic curled up into a ball and began spinning. "Here we go! Sonic Wave!" A wave of white energy expelled from the spinning hedgehog. As the two attacks collided, Bass summoned a stone fist and attempted to crush Sonic in its grasp. However, Knuckles intercepted the attack with stone fist of his own. While the stone hands struggled, Knuckles called out to Sonic. The two heroes dashed towards each other and locked arms.

"So Knuckles, we're using THAT attack?"

"Yeah, it'll knock him right off his feet!"

"Good, cuz I think he hates you."

"I get the feeling he hates my entire race!"

"Hmm, wonder why?"

"Worry about that later, Sonic! We need to defeat this guy"

"No time like the present!"

With their arms still linked, Sonic and Knuckles curled up into a ball and began spinning. The hedgehog and echidna emitted blue and red light respectively. The floor and walls around them began crack and crumble. Wind swirled around Sonic's spinning form while fire surrounded Knuckles. The two heroes shouted out in unison.

"F-W STYLE, TWIN SPIN ATTACK!"

A hurricane of wind and fire spiraled around the spinning duo as they launched themselves towards Bass. The cloaked Bass raised his right hand above his head. "Don't make me laugh! Now die scum! Earth Breaker!" A large purple energy sphere formed in his palm and he tossed it at the heroes. The Twin Spin Attack collided with the Earth Breaker. There was a brief struggle before the Spin Attack severed the Earth Breaker right down the middle. "Wh…What!?" Before he could react any further, Bass was struck by Sonic and Knuckles's Twin Spin Attack.


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT: ESCAPE FROM THE FLAG SHIP

Amy looked back as she stood on top of the Whale Shark Flag Ship. Her eyes narrowed before they widened with shock. She saw a powerful explosion erupting in the distance. "Th..that's where Sonic is!" She began to run toward that direction. "AMY! Wait!" Amy turned back and saw Tails kneeling down a short distance away. "Tails…!" Tails stood up. "Hold on, Sonic and Knuckles can take care of themselves!" Tails looked down beside him. "We already set the EM charger. Once we activate it, The Flagship will lose control of the rest of the Egg Fleet. Since the Flagship is immune to EM pulses, we'll have to destroy its engine core. I'll contact Sonic and Knuckles so we can link up and destroy it together!" Amy was skeptical about going along with it, but she knew she had to follow the plan in order for the heroes to succeed. "Well then, hurry up and activate the EM charger!" Tails turned and crouched by the EM charger. "Okay, let's do this!" Tails activated the device and dashed towards Amy.

A stream of blue electricity shot from EM charger and encased the Flag Ship. The blue light surrounded the Whale Shark in an energy dome. A few moments later, the dome expanded outwards and captured all of the Egg Fleet battleships. The surges of energy fill the sky with a brilliant blue light. After the light faded, all the weapons on the battleships began to short out. The engines stopped working and the ships began their descent into the ocean. Tails gestured Amy to the direction where Sonic and Knuckles infiltrated the Whale Shark Flag Ship. "Here we go Amy! Let's destroy that engine core!"

The torrent of wind and fire threw the entire Emerald Containment room into chaos. Sonic and Knuckles' combined attack, FW Style Twin Spin Attack, continued to hammer Bass. Bass was completely thrown off guard by the sheer power of the hedgehog and echidna's attack. The Spin Attack bounced off the walls and struck Bass with a direct hit with each strike. The heroes were not letting up.

When the Spin Attack came back around for another strike, Bass prepare himself. "Hmph, I think that's enough of that. BLACK SHIELD!" A diamond shaped shield surrounded Bass. The moment Sonic and Knuckles's attack reached Bass's barrier, it was nullified, hurling the hedgehog and echidna to the ground. Sonic stumbled to his feet. "Heh, there's no doubt about it now. You absorbed Metal Sonic's Black Shield. When did that hap-" Bass appeared before Sonic and grabbed him by the throat. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me. It's a shame you'll never find out more." Golden energy began to form into the palm of his hand. Bass smiled. "You put up a good fight, but this is the end, Sonic the Hedgehog" As he prepared to finish Sonic off, Knuckles appear behind Bass. "DEEP IMPACT!" The wild echidna howled as he performed a right hook. Bass noticed Knuckles' attack and proceeds to drop Sonic. "Echidna!? Don't think you can get the drop on me!" Bass encased himself in another Black Shield. Knuckles landed a punch on the diamond shaped shield. The hydrogen atoms in the air around Knuckles's fist and Bass's barrier began to split. Bass' eyes widened. "W-what..is this?" The atoms ignited, creating a powerful blast that shattered the Black Shield and engulfed Bass.

The blast bypassed Sonic and shot through the wall. Bass was gone. All that was left was a hole in wall leading to the outside. Sonic regain his balance and looked towards Knuckles. The echidna was panting heavily. He looked up at Sonic and met his eyes. He smiled. "See Sonic, that's how it's done…!" Knuckles gave Sonic a thumbs up before he collapsed onto the ground. Sonic dashed over to the weary echidna. "Yo Knuckles! Are you alright?" Knuckl es opened his eyes. "Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I am! I'm just….a little tired." Sonic smiled. "Looks like Bass is done. What happened to him?" Knuckles sat up and looked around. "Either he was completely vaporized or he fell into the ocean."

"Neither"

The heroes turned their heads to see Bass floating in front of the opening leading to the ocean. "I won't be "done" until both of you are dead." Bass began to slowly move toward the heroes. "But I must admit, you two are interesting to fight. However, enough is enough." He formed a fist in his right hand and gazed at it. "Now that I have a handy new ability." Knuckles froze in his place. The echidna knew what he was talking about. He lifted his head to look at Bass. "N-no, you couldn't have stolen my Deep Impact...!" Bass continued moving toward Sonic and Knuckles. "Ahh yes, Deep Impact. I think it would be more appropriate for only the strongest warrior to wield such a technique." A sinister smile developed on his face. "So I'll kill you first." Sonic got up and swiftly moved to block Bass from continuing. "Not on my watch!" Bass faced his palm toward Sonic. "Sorry, Sonic. I'm saving you for last." The blue hedgehog charged straight at the cloaked robot, but before he could attack him, a giant stone hand slammed Sonic to the ground and proceeded to pin him there. Sonic groaned in pain as he struggled to break free. "_Ugh, no good! I'm still drained from using the Twin Spin Attack!_"

Bass advanced toward Knuckles. "Now Guardian of the Emeralds, any last words before I make your species extinct?" Knuckles smirked in defiance against Bass. "My clan maybe, but not my kind." The menacing robot stomped on Knuckles' chest. The force of the attack cracked the floor beneath him. Bass was visibly shaken by his words. "What do you mean by that?!" The weary Knuckles raise his right arm and gave Bass a thumbs down. "You don't need to know..." Bass punched Knuckles in the stomach. The strike shook the entire room. "GRHAAHH!" Bass struck Knuckles again. "TELL ME WHAT YOU MEANT!" The attack on Knuckles continued for a minute until Bass finally stopped. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll just finish you off now and figure it out myself!" Bass raised his fist, preparing for another strike. "Deep Impac-"

Suddenly, a hammer whirled across the room and slammed into Bass' chest. Blindsided by the attack, Bass was knocked away from the defeated Knuckles and the imprisoned Sonic. Recovering quickly, Bass looked up to see Amy Rose standing at the entrance. "Gah, who are you?". Amy completely ignored Bass' question and ran over to Sonic. "Don't worry Sonic! I'll save you!" Amy summoned another Piko Piko Hammer and raised in the air. "The power of love will free you from your prison!" Sonic glanced over at Amy and saw that she was beginning to glow pink. "Wai-what? Amy! That's a little too much power! Hold on!" But it was too late. Amy slammed the hammer down onto the stone fist. The impact shook the room as the stone hand was crushed into millions of pieces. The pink hedgehog grabbed the weary Sonic and hugged him, a little too tightly.

"SONIC! I was SOOOO worried about you! As soon as we set the EM charge, I came as fast as I could!"  
"That's great, Amy! How about you let me go so I can breathe again?  
"OH, Sonic! I'm sorry!"  
"It's fine, Amy, as long as you're here now. Hey, where's Tails?"  
"He went to go destroy the engine core. He said he wouldn't be gone long."

Sonic sat up and noticed Knuckles was looking at them with expression of annoyance. "Oh don't mind me guys, just a half dead echidna lying on the ground." Sonic scratched his head and laughed. "Haha, sorry Knuckles! We got distracted! I figured you'd be okay since, you know, you're tougher than leather." Knuckles managed to sit up. "Shut up Sonic, I'll be fine when we get out of here." Amy looked back and finally noticed Knuckles. "Knuckles, you look terrible! What happened?" "Oh, nothing. Just got attacked by a powerful robot who seems to have a grudge against me. Other than that nothing interesting." Amy sat down beside Sonic.

"I never seen you guys so beat up like this before. That guy must be really powerful."  
"Yeah, this guy is tough! He gave me and Knuckles tough time"  
"Hey guys"  
"Can you two even still fight?"  
"Guys"  
"Don't worry Amy. It'll take more than this to take me down!"  
"Hey, **Guys**"  
"Oh Sonic! You're so amazing! Nothing can take you down!"  
"**GUYS! Are you just going to sit there and ignore the fact that Bass is still standing behind us?!**"

Sonic and Amy turned to see a furious Bass standing behind them with purple energy surging around him. "First, this girl denies me the echidna. Now, you mock me by sitting around casually having a conversation?" Bass raised his hands to the ceiling. "I will completely destroy all of you! Hyper Earth Breaker!" Black energy began to form in the palm of his hands. Bass' attack startled Knuckles. "_What is this strange energy? This power… it's just like….!_" The black ball slowly grew larger. Sonic helped up Knuckles "We need to stop him! Sonic!" Amy stood up beside the two heroes. "We better do it now!" However, before the heroes could take action, a golden energy ball shot Bass in the chest. Electricity began to surge around his body, causing the black ball to dissipate. Bass collapsed onto the fall, shouting in agony. The three heroes turned around to find the source of the attack. Standing at the entrance was none other than Mile Tails Prower.

The young fox's right arm was encased in a small red cannon, smoke slowly seep out of it signifying its recent use. Tails ran over to the others. "Sonic, Knuckles, Amy! Are you guys alright?" Sonic smiled at his best friend. "Yeah, we're fine. Amy saved us earlier." Knuckles knelt down and put his right palm on the ground. He placed his other hand on his forehead. "Earth elements…lend me your amazing strength!" Light green energy surrounded Knuckles. Slowly, all of Knuckles' wounds began fading away. "Tails, you weren't that far behind from Amy. Did you already destroy the engine core?" Tails point back at the entrance. "Well, the engine room wasn't as far away from our entry point as I thought. I managed to arm the entire room with explosive which will detonate in 3 minutes."

Suddenly, a beam of light shot across the room. Sonic moved quick enough to pushed Amy and Tails out of the way and managed to grab Knuckles, saving everyone from being hit by the blast. Sonic looked to see Bass standing with his tattered cape blowing in the wind. Sonic whistled in amazement. "Whoa, you're pretty tough, Bass. When Tails modifies his Energy Cannon like that, it usually disable robots completely." Tails elaborated further. "In that specific setting, my Energy Ball is composed of concentrated electromagnetic particles. In other words, each blast is an EM pulse that should short-circuit all types of machinery!" Bass smirked. "Like I could be short circuited by your inferior technology." As Tails looked down and contemplated his words, Bass began floating towards the heroes. "Now, shall we finish our battle?" The four heroes took their battle stances.

Before the fight could continue, a voice boomed throughout the room. "**BASS, stop fighting at once!**" Sonic looked up. "That voice….Dr. Eggman?" At that moment, a hologram of Eggman appeared between the heroes and Bass. The dark robot narrowed his eyes at the Eggman hologram. "What are you talking about? I'm about to destroy them!"  
"Yes, yes. You certainly proved your skills Bass, but that meddlesome fox disabled my Egg Fleet and armed the flagship's engine core with a bomb. It won't last much longer. Bring me the Chaos Emeralds and get out of there!"

The hologram vanished from the room. Bass hesitated for a moment before he held up his palm to the ceiling. He shot an gold energy blast at the container holding the Chaos Emeralds, destroying it. The six Chaos Emeralds fell from above and began revolving around Bass. Knuckles noticed something. "_The Emeralds, they're…but that would mean he's….!_" Bass moved toward the hole in the wall. "You are lucky…Sonic the Hedgehog….Knuckles the Echidna. The next time we meet, you'll die." Before Bass departed, Sonic called out to him. "Wow Bass, it's hard to believe someone as strong as you would be following that clown, Eggman." Bass stopped and he looked back at Sonic. He lowered his eyes for a moment before turning around and flying through the hole.

Sonic exhaled. "That was kinda fun!" Knuckles rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about? We lost the Chaos Emeralds!" Tails began walking to the entrance. "As long as Eggman doesn't get the last Chaos Emerald, he can't complete his scheme." Sonic, followed by Amy and Knuckles, joined Tails. "You know Eggman can't beat us! Stop worrying, Knuckles!" As the others left the room, Knuckles looked back at destruction from the fight with Bass. "Eggman isn't the only one I'm worried about." The red echidna closed his eyes.

"_Bass…just who are you?_"

The heroes backtracked to point of their original entry. Tails lifted everyone out the flagship, and they dashed toward the Tornado 2. "Alright guys, the bomb I set should go off pretty soon!" Sonic jumped onto the biplane's wings. "Then we better hurry!" Amy got into the backseat, and Knuckles joined Sonic on the wing. Tails started up the plane. "Hold on tight, we're going full speed!" The biplane took flight and quickly transformed into its X form.

The heroes looked back as the Whale Shark Flagship was engulfed in a brilliant explosion.


End file.
